Cinder Red Riding Hood
by RaindropSundae
Summary: When Cinderella lose's everything and everyone she loves for a second time, having her life thrown for a loop, she can no longer handle it. Not for a second time.


The weather was frightfully cold. The perfect evening to sit by the fire. Charming had gone to get some hot chocolate from the kitchen that he had asked the butler to prepare. Cinderella sat in a comfortable night gown on some pillows, lazily reading a book waiting for her king to come back. Thats when it happened, thats when everything went wrong.

Charming came into the room. But he came in all wrong. He stumbled and fell to his knees. There was a dagger in his back, and he was gasping for breath. He looked at his love with fear and sorrow. He already knew he wouldn't make it. His injury's were far to severe.

Cinderella had never seen her King Charming cry before. But he did then. He shed a tear for his wife, and truth be told, for his own fate. He was not ready to fall like this. He stared into Cinderellas eyes, pleading.

"Run." he whispered, begging her to run, to live. But she couldn't move. She couldn't _think_. She could only stare at her husband on the ground. The moment of horror was shattered from the stomping of feet. It was the attackers. There were only two of them but she was sure that there had to have been more. No way two men could do this by themselves. It was unthinkable with the amount of guards they had. She stumbled back away from them, and found herself beside her Prince Charming, her hand landing on the hilt of his sword.

She felt her grief and heart break transform into rage. She grasped the hilt properly and got to her feet. The two men just laughed at her. There was no way a woman could fight them off they thought. Especially not a spoiled lazy queen. They didn't know that she didn't come from royalty. Cinderella did not have a lazy pampered childhood. While she didn't know how to fight with a sword, she still had all her muscles from working for the mast majority of her life. The two assailants didn't take one other thing into consideration.

She screamed at them, rushing forward. Her eyes were wild, there was spit flying out of her mouth, and tears had started flowing from her eyes. She had worked so hard, and been through so much. This was the last straw, this broke her. If life was going to keep kicking her down, keep shitting on her, then she was done. There was no more Cinderella. There was no more Ella as her betrothed had lovingly called her.

Now there was only Cinder. A cinder that turned into a roaring fire.

The two men were startled by her screams, and her speed. How could she be so fast? The first man sloppily brought up her sword to parry her attack. She fumbled with the sword, and tried anther wild swing, hitting the mans arm this time, a lucky shot.

"You b*tch!" he gasped.

Again she slashed, screamed and sobbed. She was strong and she was angry, but she couldn't stop them. She wasn't strong enough. Not yet. The second man snapped into action, flipping the sword out of her hands with his own. She was weaponless. But she didn't care. She tried to claw at them, but they stopped her easily. Simply grabbing her wrists. Still she thrashed, trying to bite at them. The first man, with the gash on his arm, raised his sword to finish her. But the second man stopped her.

"Hey! He said no needless deaths!"

"This is not needless! Didn't you see what she did to my arm!"

"She wasn't the target!"

"Well we can't just leave her here. She's seen our faces. We can't have a witness."

"Then we need to take her with us. She might be useful. We'll ask what Boss thinks."

"He'll think this is a big waste of time."

"If we kill her, he'll be even more pissed."

"Fine."

The first man raised her sword again, and brought the hilt down hard on the top of her head. Cinder's eyes rolled back into her head, and the second guard caught her before she fell to the ground. He hoisted her limp body over his shoulder, and the pair took off. Leaving King Charming's body to grow cold in time with the dying embers in the fire place.

It was a frigidly cold night. Winter would be coming soon. It was raining, but you could hardly call it rain. It was the sloppy chunky rain. Like it was trying its hardest to become snow, but still couldn't quite yet. A group of ten men left the palace on horses, disappearing into the darkness. All night long they rode, pushing their horses as hard and as fast as they could, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the castle as they could.

By the time the run was starting to rise, the rain had turned into more of a foggy haze, and the men were able to see the fires of their camp site. The men and the horses were grateful to finally stop. The men and women who had stayed at the camp took the horses to tend be tended too, feeding them apples, and giving then a place to rest. The men themselves were taken to be fed, then most were sent to bed. Save for one, the one still carrying Cinder. He went to a man standing rather importantly by the fire, waiting for a debriefing.

"Robin." the man said. He was standing tall and strong, cradling the still unconscious woman in his arms. His eyes were tired though, and he stood slanted, betraying the exhaustion he felt.

"Peter." Robin smiled, then his eyes took in the whole picture. "Is that who I think that is?"

"Yes. It is Queen Cinderella." Peter answered.

"Why have you brought her here Peter? What were you thinking?"

"King Charming made his way to her before we finished him off. She found out what had happened before we could leave. She was a witness. Little John had wanted to kill her, so we brought her to for your judgment. She attempted to put up a fight."

"Did anyone get hurt by her?"

"John only got a little cut on his arm."

Robin made a humming sound. He looked over Cinderella thoughtfully. Little John was very pridefully. Said pride was surly hurt by receiving any kind of wound from a royal woman. Cinder did not look peaceful Robin noted. Most people looked peaceful as they slept. But she didn't. She looked tormented. Robin glanced over to another woman filling bowls with food for the men. She glanced over and smiled at him. Her smile could put her at ease no matter the situation. His Maid Marian. But this time it filled his stomach with a sickly feeling; guilt. He despised Charming, and all royalty. But he couldn't help but empathize and put himself in Cinderellas position. He smiled at Maid Marian, then gave a frustrated sign.

"We cannot harm her. Not further. But we also just can't let her go now." Robin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Go to Marian, get her to nurse the fallen royal back to health. If anyone will be able to get a scorned royal wife on our side, its her. Now go."

Peter nodded and left to speak to Maid Marian. Maid Marian had her hair in a braid keeping her long brown hair out of her face. She had kind hazel eyes, and a soft face. She looked concerned as Peter approached her.

"Who is this? Peter what have you done?"

"What have _I_ done? Nothing! _I_ saved her from Little John! I brought her back here, because I didn't know what to do with her. Robin said you should take care of her." Marian sighed at that. It wasn't that she didn't like helping. In fact, she loved helping. But she hated getting involved in this, in Robins revenge stories. He had been on a kick lately. She didn't know what had come over him. He wasn't normally like this. But lately, all he wanted was to get even with all those who wronged him. If this was the woman she thought it was, then he had really sunk to a new low this time. All King Charming did was start cutting down some trees in the forest. He was building new establishments for his people. There was no way he would know the importance of one tree. It was a small mistake compared to what he used to get vengeance for. He used to be righteous, now he is only petty. She could see his spirit was being corrupt. But she doesn't know by what, though she suspects that it would be from an evil spell. But she couldn't be sure.

"Of course I'll help her, the poor thing." she signed. "Follow me, lets get her in some dry clothes and get her to bed, she'll be lucky not to catch a fever from spending all night in that freezing rain."

Over the course of the next week, Marian cared for Cinderella like a mother would care for their child. Cinder woke up a day after arriving, but was still in shock. The rage had dwindled to embers, and the shock and grief had filled her body and soul. She would hardly move, hardly eat. Her eyes almost looked vacant. But there was a new hardness to them. When she would look Maid Marian in the eyes, the woman would shudder and suppress the urge to ward off evil. She could see a fracture in the other woman's eyes. She saw that Cinderella was filling that crack with ice and hate. She tried to meet with Robin to tell him about it. But lately it was hard to get a quiet moment alone with Robin. He wanted to start traveling again. He wanted to move over to the next Kingdom. Maid Marian would grasp his arm tightly, pleading with him.

"Haven't we done enough? Can't we please be done? What of the family you promised me Robin?" her eyes would fill with tears. She could see his eyes had changed too. They had been twisted, the devil had taken hold of his soul. Telling him lies of ways to protect his people, to protect his loved ones. When he would look at her know, she would see a glimmer of confusion, before once again falling back into the lies he's told himself.

"We already have a family my dear. Just look around you? Could you ask for a better family then this?" he smiled. As he turned away to continue his business, Maid Marian let silent tears fall down her face. This wasn't what she had been promised.

The next day, Cinder finally resurfaced fully from the depth of her mind. She fully focused on Maid Marian. "What is this place?" she asked.

"This is your new home." Marian said gently. Cinder inhaled sharply, shutting her eyes tight. Marian had expected to see tears falling down her face. But when Cinder opened her eyes again, her face was back to blank. Set.

"For how long?" Cinder almost succeed in keeping her voice from cracking.

"I don't know dear. I'm sorry. Hopefully you'll be able to be on your way, if thats what you wish, soon." she tried to smile. Cinder just looked down, expressionless.

Since Cinder could move on her own now. She was made to travel on foot, and move to a new cot. It reminded her of when she was forced to sleep in the kitchen, but cold. She had no fiends here. She had to start all over again. No, she had to leave. There was no reset for Cinderella this time. She would no longer let her anger go. She would no longer forgive. But this place was too fortified, too many people. Too many men. She had to plan her next move carefully.

They had given her new clothes. It wouldn't have been possible for her to continue on in just her nightgown. They gave her a plane dress, rather similar to the one she used to wear, and a warm worn in red cloak. She rather liked it. It felt like it suited the new her. The new her she was to become. Marian was kind to her, she would have appreciate it under different circumstances, but they were the enemy. They all killed her family. They all ended her happily ever after.

Over the course of their travels, Cinder had convinced them to teach her how to use a bow for hunting. She fumbled with the arrows. She needed to become faster at re loading the bow. Her hand would stumble over the quiver trying to get her new arrow. Her arm became bruised from the string. Marian helped her to make a protective leather bracelet for her wrist and arm. Cinder woke early every morning, a habit that came naturally to her. She couldn't stand the quiet of being left to think. Think about all her mistakes. About all the things she could have, and should have done differently. She should have trained in combat with Charming. She should have told him she loved him before he went to that dreadful kitchen. She shouldn't have insisted on hot chocolate by the fire. She didn't need anything. She hadn't needed anything but to have _him_ beside _her_. Her chest felt empty. She felt so, hollow. So unlike herself. Had she mourned so, when her father died? No, she had tried to keep her chin up, do right by her father. But this time, she couldn't keep her chin up. She could only through herself into chores they asked of her, and training. She never wanted to feel helpless again.

Over the course of the next few weeks, she stopped people from calling her Cinderella. She slapped a man who had tried to call her Ella, even spat in his face. No one but her dearly departed husband could ever call her that. For a day or so, she considered making Cinder her official new name. But it still felt to painfully attached to the life she lost. Eventually the people around her did rename her slowly. "Take it easy Red." they would say when her temper would raise. Or. "Nice shot Red!" she started to identify as that. It felt right. Her old name would become a secret special word she would only think to herself in the darkest hour of night.

After another long day of traveling and setting up camp. Everyone had gathered around to hear Robins announcement. He positioned himself heroically behind the fire. His hands behind his back, and his hair windswept out of his face. He looked rather mad to be frank. The way the fire light played with his recently becoming gaunt face. He feared someone was to poison his food. He hardly even trusted his own Maid Marian.

"Wonderful news everyone! We have reached our next base! We are within a days travel to King Charming, and Queen Snow's palace." the raiders in the group cheered. They were bored with the lack of gore traveling presented, and hunting animals was no longer enough for them. Robin waited for them to calm down before continuing.

"We only have one chance to get this right, like last time-" the words carved their way painfully into Red's heart. Last time was her home. "-which shouldn't be a problem! Right Little John?"

"Right!" Little John yelled in reply, grinning like a fool.

' _No_ ,' Red through to herself. ' _There will be no more broken lives_.'

"What did they do?" she asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Robin said.

"What did they do, to deserve your reckoning?" Red remembered Snow White's kingdom. They gave most of their wealth back to their people, taking pride in there subjects peace and happiness. Last she had heard, they were building a library for their people.

"They are destroying the forests around them! They are hunting animals at a rapid rate. They are taxing their people. They are having incredible feasts in their castle while their people starve!" Robin exclaimed, and his followers booed this injustice, making Robin smile. But Cinderella was friends with Snow White. Snow White was downsizing and giving away all their wealth. In fact, they were slowly working on a plan for dissolving their kingdom and creating, what she had called a 'democracy'. Red hadn't fully understood what that meant. Something about letting the people choose who ruled them for a few years.

Robin went into the details for how they would achieve victory. He would stay behind again, incase anything went wrong, so he could continue to lead his people. Red heard him tell Little John, how much her trusted him to let him do this on his own without Robin. She saw Little John beam with pride for the rest of the day. Robin didn't have to work hard to manipulate the people who already trusted him.

While they trained and went over battle plans, so did Red. She listened in, and used any excuse to be around them while they trained. She asked Marian if she would let her see the maps they were working on. When Marian hesitated, Red put on a show of getting teary eyed. "I just want to know where we are. I feel so lost." she would whimper. Marian was a good soul. Red didn't want to hurt her, but she needed to stop this. This wasn't justice, this wasn't vengeance, this was raiding painted up like the right thing to do. Red had heard of Robin in her previous life. She had admired they way he cared for his own. She wasn't sure if he used to, if something happened, and changed him. But he wasn't caring. He was manipulative, and angry. He would be your 'friend' until you fell out of line.

Finally, the night before the raid, Red put her own plan into action. She had fed them beer after beer that night. They didn't refuse. They drank themselves into a stupor to 'loosen up' for the next day. They needed to be loose and limber for the attack.

When they had fallen into a deep sleep, Red snuck into their tent, trying together their hands and feet. She grabbed on her way to the fire. Wrapping it in cloth she soaked in beer to make a torch, and flung it onto their tent. She took a deep breath and drew her bow, ready for a commotion. Her skills had sharpened over the past few weeks. She felt more confident in herself, in her new life.

She started backing away from the camp, with a sack filled with food and supplies, just enough to get her to the kingdom to resupply and move on. She could no longer live in a city or town. She had chosen vengeance. As the mens screams became to fill the air and she melted into the shadows, she couldn't even bring herself to feel pity, remorse, or regret. She had changed. She was someone new. She didn't like who this new person was. But she was willing to live with it. When she got far enough away from the camp, she let out a deep sigh.

"I'm so sorry Charming. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. Now, I've just committed myself to damnation. A life of repentance after this could not rejoin me in your arms. Please forgive me, for I had no choice."

Red lifted her cloak over her head, and marched on towards the glowing lights of the kingdom. She was reborn out of fire. Robin hood had changed her, twisted her. She had become like him. A demon; Little Red Hood.


End file.
